2015 Readers’ Choice Award Winners

The nominations came in all year long. The voting lasted a whole month. And now the results are here, and your voices have spoken! ~

Congrats to our winners!Overall Digital Game of the Year ~ Decisive Campaigns BarbarossaOverall Tabletop Game of the Year ~ ChurchillDigital Wargame of the Year ~ Decisive Campaigns BarbarossaDigital RPG of the Year ~ The Witcher III: Wild HuntDigital Civ/City/Rail-Builder of the Year ~ Cities: SkylineDigital Sports Game of the Year ~ Project CarsDigital Action/FPS Game of the Year ~ XCOM Enemy WithinDigital Expansion/DLC of the Year ~ Attila TW: Age of CharlemagneTabletop Wargame Game of the Year ~ ChurchillTabletop Strategy Game of the Year ~ Star Wars: Imperial AssaultTabletop Adventure Game of the Year ~ Dead Of WinterTabletop Euro/Family Game of the Year ~ Pandemic LegacyTabletop Expansion of the Year ~ Spearpoint 1943: Eastern FrontTabletop Reprint/Rerelease of the Year ~ Empire of the Sun

At GrogHeads, our readers have the final say on the best games of the year, as we unveil the 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards…

First off, this year saw a variety of well-loved games released, and others updated with some excellent expansions. And yet, even with an entire year to nominate games, we still had folks bemoaning “why wasn’t _____ on the list?” The answer is the same every time: no one nominated it! It’s your award, and you dear reader, get to pick your own choices.

Several categories were hotly contested, including at least one where we had a tie. A few were runaways. All of them were selected by you!

The GrogHeads Readers’ Choice Overall 2015 Digital Game of the Year was Decisive Campaigns Barbarossa, followed by Combat Mission:Black Sea, and XCOM Enemy Within in third.

Within each of the digital and tabletop genres, we did offer more specific categories of competition as well. Some of our results were at least a bit surprising. Others you could see coming a mile away.

The GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Digital Wargame of the Year was also Decisive Campaigns Barbarossa, and second was again Combat Mission:Black Sea, with NWS’s Rule the Waves bringing up third.

Our second-place finishers!Overall Digital Game of the Year ~ Combat Mission:Black Sea Overall Tabletop Game of the Year ~ Enemy Action: Ardennes Tabletop Wargame Game of the Year ~ Triumph & Tragedy Tabletop Strategy Game of the Year ~ Cthulhu Wars Tabletop Adventure Game of the Year ~ Blood Rage Tabletop Euro/Family Game of the Year ~ 7 Wonders Duel Tabletop Expansion of the Year ~ Eldritch Horror : Strange Remnants Tabletop Reprint/Rerelease of the Year ~ Dawn’s Early Light: Red Hammer Digital Wargame of the Year ~ Combat Mission:Black Sea Digital RPG of the Year ~ Fallout 4 Digital Action/FPS Game of the Year ~ Grand Theft Auto V Digital Expansion/DLC of the Year ~ Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations: Northern Inferno

In a decisive victory, the GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Digital RPG of the Year was claimed by The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. Fallout 4 and Pillars of Eternity finished second and third, respectively.

Our GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Digital Action/FPS Game of the Year was, as you might expect from its showing in the overall category, XCOM Enemy Within, but Grand Theft Auto V and Star Wars: Battlefront had respectable showings.

In a slight surprise, given the chatter on our forums, the GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Digital Expansion/DLC of the Year was Attila TW: Age of Charlemagne, with a decent margin over Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations: Northern Inferno, and Flashpoint Campaigns Germany Reforged bringing up third.

Our two smallest categories only produced first-place winners, as we don’t award more than that when fewer than 4 are even nominated. Our GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Digital Civ/City/Rail-Builder of the Year was Cities: Skyline and our GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Digital Sports Game of the Year was claimed by Project Cars.

Within the detailed categories for tabletop gaming, we saw a tie in the GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Tabletop Wargame Game of the Year. Churchill claimed the title, with Triumph & Tragedy in second. But in third, Wing Leader and Enemy Action: Ardennes shared the spoils.

In the broader GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Tabletop Strategy Game of the Year, Star Wars: Imperial Assault stomped Cthulhu Wars and XCOM The Board Game to claim the title.

Third place finishersOverall Tabletop Game of the Year ~ Triumph & Tragedy Overall Digital Game of the Year ~ XCOM Enemy Within Digital Wargame of the Year ~ Rule the Waves Digital RPG of the Year ~ Pillars of Eternity Digital Action/FPS Game of the Year ~ Star Wars : Battlefront Digital Expansion/DLC of the Year ~ Flashpoint Campaigns Germany Reforged Tabletop Wargame Game of the Year ~ Wing Leader (tie) Tabletop Wargame Game of the Year ~ Enemy Action: Ardennes (tie) Tabletop Strategy Game of the Year ~ XCOM The Board Game Tabletop Adventure Game of the Year ~ Xia: Legends of a Drift Tabletop Euro/Family Game of the Year ~ Space Cadets : Away Missions Tabletop Expansion of the Year ~ Castle Panic : The Dark Titan Tabletop Reprint/Rerelease of the Year ~ Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition

The GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Tabletop Adventure Game of the Year was Dead Of Winter, with Blood Rage and Xia: Legends of a Drift finishing second and third.

Expansions and reprints were not left out! The GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Tabletop Expansion of the Year went to Spearpoint 1943: Eastern Front in a close vote over Eldritch Horror : Strange Remnants, with Castle Panic : The Dark Titan in a distant third.

Speaking of ‘distant’, everyone was a distant follower to Empire of the Sun, our GrogHeads Readers’ Choice 2015 Tabletop Reprint/Rerelease of the Year, with over 50% of the vote, and no one else even reaching double digits, as Dawn’s Early Light: Red Hammer and Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition survived an 11-way rock-fight for second and third.

Congratulations to all our winners, and nominations are already open for the 2016 awards, both digital and tabletop. Remember that if you don’t nominated them, we don’t want to hear the griping when you can’t vote on them!